India’s geography has endowed us with all the elements necessary to be a great maritime nation, said President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday. She was speaking after witnessing the operational demonstration conducted by the Indian Navy at Puri Beach in Odisha, on the occasion of Navy Day.
Harking back to India's rich maritime history, the President said a long coastline, island territories, seafaring population, and developed maritime infrastructure encouraged the nation's maritime activities along the coast and across the oceans from more than 5,000 years ago.
She said with a glorious maritime heritage and history to look back upon and a future full of promise to look forward to, India has always been a strong maritime nation and added that India's fortunes, glory, and identity are defined by the seas.
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The President said she is confident that the Indian Navy will continue to ensure maritime security, which is important to ensure India's "rise to a Viksit Bharat by 2047."
She hailed the Navy’s pioneering efforts in providing appropriate growth avenues to ‘Nari Shakti’ and observed that the Navy was the first service to induct women Agniveers. The President said two women naval officers, Lieutenant Commander Dilna K. and Lieutenant Commander Roopa, provide the best example of this new paradigm of women playing a major role in India's defence forces, as they circumnavigate the globe in INSV Tarini as part of the ‘Navika Sagar Parikrama II’.